At the fourth Taskforce Meeting on Public-Private Partnership in Fighting Financial Crime in Ukraine, the Center for Financial Integrity, jointly with the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI, brought together representatives from Ukrainian banks, regulators, law enforcement agencies, international partners, and the RegTech community to analyse the growing threat of money mules and find solutions to combat financial crime.
When it comes to money mules, banks often see only part of the picture, as each institution captures just a fragment of a wider network. This makes secure and structured information sharing between banks and state authorities essential for building a complete understanding and responding effectively to financial crime.
Participants also discussed the potential value of a national registry of high-risk clients, noting that while such a tool could strengthen prevention, it must include strong safeguards to avoid wrongful inclusion and protect vulnerable groups. Money mules are often a symptom of deeper issues — including the informal economy, tax evasion, and low financial literacy — which means that focusing solely on account holders does not address the root causes.
To tackle these challenges, improving financial literacy was identified as a key priority through public awareness campaigns and educational programmes. Technology also plays a critical role in strengthening detection. RegTech solutions allow financial institutions to integrate data from multiple sources, improving risk assessment, while advanced analytics and AI help identify complex schemes and anticipate emerging risks. Secure information sharing between banks and regulators further enhances the monitoring of suspicious transactions, enabling Ukraine to more effectively combat financial crime and protect its financial system.
We would like to thank all participants for their active engagement and valuable contributions to the meeting. Your insights and expertise significantly enriched the discussion and helped move our joint work forward. The Taskforce is supported by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.
